The event was run by the Tackle It team from Sunderland AFC’s official charity, The Foundation of Light.

The session challenged pupils to guess a person’s nationality, job and personality traits just by looking at a picture of their face.

The activity is designed to highlight how assumptions can easily be made on the basis of someone’s skin colour or other physical features.

Year Six teacher Neil Iceton, said the pupils learnt a lot from the session.

He said: “It’s important to educate people on issues such as racism from a young age, and it’s great to be able to work with the Foundation of Light to do that in a way which is both fun and engaging.”

After the classroom activities, pupils took part in a game of handball, which aimed to show the importance of acceptance and teamwork.

The school event was one of six being put on at the school over the next few weeks.

The Foundation of Light is also working with other schools across the region to educate young people on a range of sensitive topics.

Ed Cook, senior informal education office at the Foundation, said: “Over the last decade, the Tackle It programme has grown to the stage where we’re working with more than 50 schools every year across the North East.”

“Many, like East Herrington, have hosted more than one of the courses, and it’s fantastic to see so many young people engaging with us to help them make positive choices both in school and out.”

Action Against Racism Week started on Saturday and ends on Sunday.

Any schools interested in signing it up for a Tackle It course should contact Ed Cook on 551 5091 or ed.cook@safc.com.